Mr. Two Bits
After the war, Edmondson returned to Tampa and worked in the insurance business. The Two Bits tradition began spontaneously in
1949, when a friend gave him a ticket to see The Citadel play against the Florida Gators in
Gainesville in the season-opening game for both teams. The Gators had lost five of their last six games the previous year and were not expected to do any better. When the fans booed the players and the coach even before the opening kickoff, Edmondson decided to boost their morale by leading them in a cheer about adding up bits (a "bit" is an eighth of a dollar, so eight of them would indeed total one dollar). The Gators won the game, and fans were so enthusiastic about Edmondson's cheer that he returned the next Saturday to lead it again. Edmondson continued leading the cheer at almost every Gator home game and selected road and
bowl games over the next several decades. Beginning In the late 1970s, the university invited him to lead the entire crowd in the two-bits cheer from midfield as part of pregame festivities. Edmondson was never paid for his services, and even after becoming an integral part of Florida's gameday traditions, he insisted on paying for his tickets like any other fan. Edmondson did not perform the cheer again following his second retirement, saying at the time that "at 86 years of age, I've got to slow down. Nothing is forever." Edmondson and his wife, Jane, attended a few Gator home games in the season after his retirement, but thereafter watched the contests on television from their home in Tampa.
Cheer Edmondson used a similar routine whether he led his cheer from the stands or from the field. During the game, he would walk through the stands, wait for a break in the action, then draw attention to himself and silence the crowd by holding up a small orange and blue sign reading "2 Bits" and blowing a whistle. (He used a bugle during his first few years, but found a whistle to be easier to carry.) Once the surrounding fans quieted down, Mr. Two Bits prompted them to yell each line of the cheer with arm waves and fist pumps, encouraging them to roar after the last line. When performing during pre-game festivities, Mr. Two Bits would be introduced and energetically jog to midfield wearing his signature outfit. Then, using the same whistle and sign and even more vigorous arm waving, he would lead the entire Florida Field crowd in the cheer. Usually, his routine came just before the entrance of the Gator football team and the opening kickoff. As performed at the University of Florida, the Two Bits cheer is as follows: "Two Bits! Four Bits! Six Bits! A Dollar! All for the Gators, stand up and holler!"
Outfit During his time as Mr. Two Bits, Edmonson wore a distinctive outfit consisting of a long-sleeved yellow dress shirt, an orange and blue tie, white-and-blue-striped
seersucker pants, and black-and-white
saddle shoes to every Gator game. This was standard attire for college football fans when he started performing the cheer in the late 1940s, and he continued to wear his "lucky" outfit to stand out in the crowd after his cheer became popular. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as an "honorary
letter winner" in 1992. When he died on July 2, 2019, at the age of 96, his death received coverage in national sports media. George and Jane Edmondson established the Mr. Two Bits Scholarship Fund, which benefits a University of Florida cheerleader every year. ==Celebrity Mr. Two-Bits==